The Stars Fell on Henrietta Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Stars Fell on Henrietta Blu-ray Movie Review

There will be (a little bit of) blood.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 11, 2024

James Keach's little-seen 1995 drama The Stars Fell on Henrietta seems to have a lot going for it: excellent production design, an interesting premise, a solid cast led by Robert Duvall, and it's even produced by Clint Eastwood. As a whole, however, it doesn't really generate an overwhelming amount of lasting interest, building mild momentum but eventually fizzling out in the home stretch. Research suggests that, due to the lack of a wide theatrical release, The Stars Fell on Henrietta earned less than $100K in ticket sales on a $15M budget; this puts it about as firmly in the "career-killing flop" category as it gets. From another perspective, does that mean it's actually kind of... underrated?

Not exactly. In all honesty, The Stars Fell on Henrietta seems more like the polar opposite of another recent Warner Archive Blu-ray release: George Roy Hill's The Little Drummer Girl, a pretty solid spy thriller dragged down by terrible lead casting. For the most part, Robert Duvall is this only reason to watch this one: he plays aging oil man Mr. Cox, a kindly but eccentric soul who travels the land with his cat Matilda. Set in Depression-era Texas, Kansas, and therabouts, it shows us that times are tough for almost everyone including him. Mr. Cox has little more than one worn-out suit, the cat, and a few dollars to his name, which makes prospective oil investment sales pitches all but impossible; this is an industry that requires thousands of dollars to try and strike it rich, and even his supposed gift of sniffing out oil-rich land doesn't give him any takers. Still, Mr. Cox's unwavering optimism keeps him going and he eventually stops near the home of Don and Cora Day (Aidan Quinn and Frances Fisher), who care for him in after an injury.

Mr. Cox naturally claims there's oil underneath their land worth millions, but they don't have anywhere close to $5,000 to split the set-up fees. Him being a nice old man that gets along with their family, including youngest daughter Mary (Francesca Eastwood), just ain't enough. His departure later leads to employment at a local Greek restaurant, a failed interaction with wealthy Big Dave (Brian Dennehy), and other detours, yet we can see the third-act events and climax coming about a mile away. What you won't see coming is the actual conclusion, which feels like a hastily-rewritten coda that whittles away what little sharpness is left of the film's vaguely endearing but kind of homogenous screenplay by Philip Railsback. The Stars Fell on Henrietta is just never all that interesting, even if you want it to be.

I will say this: as usual, Robert Duvall is a pretty solid anchor, even if he seems to playing completely "on brand" here, and the supporting cast generally do what they can with characters that range from underwritten to passable. (Various standouts include Henry Wong, Wayne Dehart, and even a post-Tombstone but pre-Sling Blade Billy Bob Thornton.) The production design seems to very accurately portray this part of America in the 1930s -- my late grandmother grew up in Abilene, KS during that period, and I would've loved to hear her take on this. Yet there's too much working against The Stars Fell on Henrietta to consider it anywhere close to a success: the plodding pace, weak ending, bad narration, and more all leave a generally bland aftertaste. But if you're here for the cast, it's at least worth a once-over.

Sadly, Warner Archive's surprise Blu-ray doesn't add a great deal of support for the film. I've got a few nagging issues with its 1080p transfer (even if some of them may have been unavoidable and, as a whole, it likely advances upon their 2010 DVD to a significant degree), and the lack of extras stings even more due to my lukewarm feelings about the film. Even so, Id imagine it has its fans and they'll be getting this one regardless of any shortcomings.

The Stars Fell on Henrietta Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For a film made in 1995 -- no matter what time period it may be trying to emulate -- The Stars Fell on Henrietta actually looks a good 20-30 years older than it perhaps should. It's no surprise that any film set in 1930s Dust Bowl territory is dominated by earth tones and muted colors, yet even within those ruddy but appropriate boundaries it often fails to visually impress during stray portions of this 1080p transfer from Warner Archive. Initially advertised as being sourced from a new 2024 master, fine detail is generally decent in favorable lighting conditions and, at the very least, the picture appears to be free from any real dirt or debris. Color timing, on the other hand, varies between shots and occasionally veers off course towards a pink or even greenish hue -- not overwhelmingly so, but just enough to feel like something's wrong. Black levels also waver, with some of the deepest values occasionally fighting awkwardly with dark grays in a way that doesn't look natural at all. (Take a look at screenshot #23 for a good example.)

Perhaps the only olive branch I can extend in this situation is that these issues may be part of the source material, and Warner Archive is generally not in the business of "fixing" what some might consider naturally occurring anomalies like this. It still looks odd and can be very distracting, even if most of the film plays well enough and disc encoding appears to be good aside from stray signs of posterization. For those reasons I can't give it the high marks Warner Archive is typically known for, although it's hard to be too judgmental since very little has been written about this film.

The Stars Fell on Henrietta Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio doesn't feature much in the way of discrete surround activity, only livening up during weather or related events like an early dust storm, raging fire, and town-related ambiance. For the most part this is a front-forward soundstage with mostly clean dialogue and well-balanced foreground and background effects, achieving a decent amount of width depending on the location or number of characters present. It almost sounds closer to 2.0 surround for the most part, but is generally a mix that fees right for this kind of film and gets the job done.

Optional Engllsh (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only.

The Stars Fell on Henrietta Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork; no inserts of any kind are included. On-disc bonus features are unsurprisingly limited to the original theatrical trailer only.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:23) - This vintage promotional piece appears to be in fairly decent condition and is framed at 1.33:1. Watch a badly compressed version of it on YouTube here.

The Stars Fell on Henrietta Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You've probably never heard of James Keach's 1995 drama The Stars Fell on Henrietta, despite a high-profile cast and the fact that it was produced by Clint Eastwood. I certainly can't call it a hidden gem due to a number of fundamental flaws, but some might be drawn towards its slower pace, excellent production design, or of course the admittedly solid central presence of Robert Duvall. Even so, it's very much a "don't get your hopes up" film, and sadly Warner Archive's Blu-ray isn't all that much better: the 1080p transfer doesn't seem quite up to their usual standards, and a lack of bonus features certainly doesn't help matters either. Unless you're a die-hard fan, proceed with caution.